IT'S been an incredible year for Laura West and Paul Bader - and they are looking forward to a special anniversary on Saturday.

The couple met, fell in love and decided to get married all in one day - Valentine's Day, last year.

The couple have not been apart since. Paul moved in straight away and the couple are getting married on Valentine's Day next year.

Perhaps it was fate, perhaps it was just good timing, but both 25-year-olds, from Birkby, were delighted they decided to go to the same coffee shop on the morning of February 14, 2003.

Laura had been single for three months and worked as a freelance writer at the time.

Every day she would go to her usual coffee shop in town, order a cappuccino, read the papers and decide what to do that day. Febrary 14 was no different - or so she thought.

"The cafe was busy and my usual window seat was taken," she said. "I asked this guy if I could sit at his table. It was Paul."

Both said later that something happened when they looked at each other - some kind of `connection'.

Over the next few hours, when they went for a walk, they found they had many things in common.

"At lunch I felt like we were a couple already. It felt so natural to be at Paul's side."

Paul obviously felt the same as, during lunch, he leaned forward and said: "You'll think I'm crazy, but I think I'm falling in love with you."

His proclamation did not fall on deaf ears. Laura smiled and told him she felt the same. By the time they left the restaurant they were holding hands and outside they kissed.

When they met again at a restaurant that evening Paul uttered those unforgettable words as he went down on one knee and said `Will you marry me? '

"I stared at him like an idiot, burst into tears and nodded. We had known each other for just 11 hours but somehow we both knew it was right."